Ada Pilar Wasserman

Ada Pilar Wasserman, 81, passed away peacefully on May 23, 2025, at her home in Saugerties, NY.
Born Ada Marja Pilar Delgado Hevia on October 25, 1943 in Havana, Cuba, Ada was the first child of Mario Delgado Casasú and Ada Hevia Ferras. The family immigrated to the U.S. via Key West, FL in 1961, eventually moving and settling in NYC.
Ada graduated from the Ministerio de Educacion, a school for primary teachers in Havana, and never stopped feeling pulled by a calling to teach and enrich the lives of children. While in Key West she taught Spanish to grades K-3. When Ada moved to Kings Park in 1985, she immediately became an active voice in the community. She joined the Council of Schools as recording secretary in 1985, moving up to the presidency in 1987. Combining her love of children with her passion for honoring and celebrating our senior citizens, one of her first projects as president was to bridge the gap between generations by bringing seniors in small groups into the elementary schools to talk and interact with students. In 1990, these efforts grew in scale when approximately 200 senior members of the community attended a special orientation for them at William T. Rogers Middle School, and a senior citizen's prom at the High School. The "Senior Citizen Open House" at WTRMS eventually became "Senior Citizen's Day," and was an annual event at the school-with Ada's continued participation-until 2004.
In 1990, as part of her efforts to rally the community to pass the school budget, Ada and the Council organized a March for Education to encourage the community to vote "yes" on the budget. Over 350 students, teachers, district employees, administrators and Board of Education members paraded through Kings Park under the theme, "Kings Park students-Our Pride and Our Future." The budget passed.
On May 16, 1995, Ada was honored at the Board of Education meeting for her many contributions to the Kings Park Central School District.
Although she resigned as President from the Council of Schools at the end of 1990, Ada never stopped volunteering her time and energy to the school district and the Kings Park community. In 1992, as treasurer of the Kings Park Chamber of Commerce, Ada helped launch the first of several business expos held at Kings Park High School to help students explore different career opportunities.
In 1992, Ada began working for AG Transnational, Ltd, an insurance brokerage in Huntington where she was able to flex her linguistic skills to communicate with the company's many international clients in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian. At the end of 2009, Ada retired from her role there as VP of New Business, and established her own company, APW Insurance, with the goal of promoting and educating the public on the important role Long Term Care Insurance, Life Insurance, Disability Insurance and Annuities play in a well-structured financial plan.
Ada loved to laugh, she loved to dance, and she loved to learn. Her family was everything to her. She threw a great party.
Ada is survived by her husband Stephen Wasserman, their daughter Veronica Wasserman, son-in-law David Robert Valois, her sister Ada Jackson, and her nieces and nephews whom she loved as if they were her own children: Christopher Borak, Regina Halladey, Erika Gellar, Angelo Iacono, Deana Stewart, and Estella Sirotta. Her grand-nieces and nephews were a shining light to her in her later years.
Ada will be remembered as a vibrant, passionate woman who loved her family and friends deeply. She was a force of nature who bettered her community and brightened every room she ever stepped foot into. She was beautiful inside and out. Ada's absence is acutely felt, but her spirit lives on in all who were lucky enough to have been touched by her extraordinary love, generosity and kindness.
In lieu of flowers and gifts, contributions can be made in Ada's honor to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.